Glad something was encouraging, Jenni. BTW, every time I see your smiling face on here I pray for you. Hope your health is well...please keep us posted!

I was just at a conference and heard an amazing Christian psychologist speak. He was talking about the worlds mistaken focus on self-esteem when the true focus should be on self-identity.....who we are in Christ. He loves us just as we are. One thing that stuck with me for raising kids is to teach them, 'you win some you lose some.' So their value doesn't shift by people's comments, shortcomings, etc. Good advice for us moms... I constantly feel like there's things I'm not doing well!

Great concept, Gina-

"not failing, just struggling"

What I needed to hear today!

That sounds like a great selection.  Good choices!

I ended up getting Ancient Egypt and her neighbors, Visits to Africa, Boy of the Pyramids, and the guide for this module. Got the PDF downloads, which helped out tremendously. $36.80, not bad. Put my mind at ease...one checkmark on my planner :). Grateful thanks to the Shafer family/Others who made these resources available at such great prices, and gave the option for PDFs!

Thanks, y'all for the suggestions!

I agree with Melissa, my daughter loved Boy of the Pyramid. Also think Ancient Egypt and Her Neighbors would be very valuable. As mentioned you could purchase the books or ebooks or even audiobooks.

I plan to do the 6 weeks.  We'll be at my in-laws right at the end of the six weeks, so I can try some reintroduction there.

We were alreay 99% vegan, but I have been careful to total eliminate all casein from our diet for now.  I have also eliminated soy and any refined sugar.  We have been using eggs more during this time, but I'm not convinced it is that because I used to never buy eggs and we were having issues then.

I don't know that we're carb heavy, but probably not carb light either.  Since doing gluten free we've definately been a lot lighter on carbs.

I like The Story of Rome personally.  It's for a younger age, but covers many more of the people in Roman history than Famous Men of Rome, which could also be used.

I would give it 6 weeks at least.  While it could be an allergy to something else like eggs, dairy, or soy, another thing to consider, the body turns grains of any kind into sugars quickly.  If you are carb heavy - even with the healthy grains, you might try cutting those out for a while.  Trim Healthy Mama book has some great recipes in it, Paleo recipes are very helpful, and GAPS recipes work well here, too.

Hope you figure out what is causing the lack of focus.

~j

My dad wants to get my son some magazine subscriptions. My son requested the AIG Answers one; he likes reading it from cover-to-cover. Mt dad wants to get him a secular one to "balance" it out.
I looked around and found that MUSE, put out by Smithsonian, is ad-free and covers a variety of topics and is apparently interesting. It seems the least twaddley of children's mags. http://www.musemagkids.com/

Do any of you have any experience with it?

Any other secular science-type magazines (that aren't twaddle) you can recommend to "balance out" the info., as my dad puts it? LOL.

Actually, I don't mind because my son is 12 1/2 and it's time for him to start contrasting and weighing the info. out there. I just want it to be a decent, twaddle-free style mag.

Thanks

I have been careful.  We make everything at home.  I mostly cooked/baked from scratch anyway, so now I've just made sure to use gluten free flours/oats or to just make something else.  Maybe I should give it the 6 weeks.  When we hit six weeks we are heading out of town for a couple of weeks, it would just be nice to know that either I do need to worry about it or not before that.

We started avoiding gluten because of physical problems (stomach aches, rash), and noticed later that it also helped my Asperger's daughter with some of her learning/ neurological issues.  For us, a few days is enough to notice a difference.  Are you sure you've completely eliminated gluten, including any possible cross-contamination?  If you have been very careful and consistent, and haven't seen changes yet, then gluten may not be your daughter's problem.  That said, I have heard before to give it 6 weeks or so.  Just in our experience, it took a lot less time to see improvements and differences.

Tara

Looking to purchase a gently used Delightful Reading Kit.  PM me if you have one available.

Thanks

Cheryl,

You have no idea how much I needed to hear that! I know what I want to do makes good sense, but I am having a hard time letting go. One of my main goals for our homeschool is to raise thinkers. I have had several of the Uncle Eric books slated for gov't/econ myself for several years. Trying to hold back from throwing those in this year to keep our year manageable. I want to use those Jr. and Sr. years.

For those of you who are gluten free or have tried gluten free . . .

We have eliminated gluten from our diets to see if it helps our DD with focus and learning.  I have read that a lot of gluten induced symptoms begin disappearing withing 24 hours some have taken a week or more.  I have read to eliminate for any where from 3 weeks to 4+ months.  How long do you suggest eliminating gluten before re-introducing it to see if there is any reaction?  So far we are into our 3rd week and see no differences in health or focus/learning.

Thanks for any input.

Emily, I personally prefer the Miller books over the Famous Men series. I know many here do as well. Also modules 1-3 are being rewritten using Miller's books, I believe. I know module one was.

My co-op is hosting Sonya in Jacksonville. I look forward to meeting you!

Christie

Thank you so much! I own the Miller books and do like how they flow. I will have to look at Famous Men and see if I like them. It may not be worth the tweaking to use the Miller books, lol!
Emily

Oooooh!  Cool beans!!!  That's why I have lurked here for so many years!!  So much NEAT stuff!!!

Check off the box that says "Life Lessons".  That is what you did today!!

We are also using the Uncle Eric books for gov't, history and econ.  It is history from a different perspective and presented in an intelligent, thoughtful manner.  Everything she learns from Uncle Eric is applicable to where we are today.  We don't want to keep repeating the same mistakes!  I have all but the WWI and II books so far.  We really like them.  She did not care for the Notgrass books either and I agree...she is old enough to have a valuable opinion...we are teaching them to be thinkers!

Well, that schedule in my post above is really all there is to it. I am a heavy planner and have always tightly scheduled everything in the past. I have set my mind on letting go of a lot of that in the past couple of years. I have three younger kids who need more attention from me for school, so I am transitioning these older two to be more independent with their learning. I am honestly not doing anymore planning than what you see here. On every Saturday evening I sit and look through the next phase for history and write down what they are supposed to accomplish and which page number in the student book talks about that project and I draw a check box on there. They see what they are supposed to do and they know it has to be ready to present to the family on Friday night. It is up to them to decide what to do, how to do it, and when to work on it. Because they have decided which projects interest them, I generally don't hear any groaning or complaining.

When we are a couple of weeks away from a new unit, I decide which books to use. First off, I eliminate everything that's listed for high school and I don't even look for those. (I am saving those choices for when they go through history cycles again.) After that I see what's available from my library and I go ahead and order those. Then with whatever books are left, I check the prices and if they are reasonable, I order them. I have been able to get almost everything very reasonably. If I really want to use something but its too expensive, I just let it go and don't worry about it.

Hmmm... I am not sure that my answers will be at all helpful to you. Please ask me again if I haven't told you what you want to know.

By the way, I do plan on using the new SCM history portfolios and geography notebooks as soon as we get to the Greece unit. I missed the Egypt and Africa sets because we were just about done with that part of the world when they came out. I think they will be a wonderful addition.

Augustus Caesar's World by Genevieve Foster is very good.

The dynaread test stated . . . "displays the typical pattern in the assessment results suggesting phonological processing issues" The memory portion was fine.  The fast reading route tested as weak and slow, which in turn causing problems with comprehension.  For the slow route testing, she was slow to answer the words and decoded them all wrong.  They didn't even give her the section on comprehension.

Does she enjoy her other schoolwork? She says no.  She says she doesn't like school.  And she hates reading.  She does like to do science and seems to enjoy history.  She loves to listen to stories.  She gets the math concepts and is just finishing MUS Gamma, which is on level for 3rd grade.  She does seem to forget the math facts not long after knowing them all and getting 100% on them.  She used to seem to enjoy math, but I'm not so sure about now.

Can she read her spelling words?  She would definately have to work at it.  If she will take the time to work out how to spell a word, she can get it right or at least very close.  But to show her the word later and ask her to read it . . . she won't necessarily read it correctly.  If I remind her of each rule she misses (and she is in a good mood and willing to try) then she can figure it out.

It all seems like a vicious circle of failure and no wonder she says she doesn't like school.

The lady I talked to with the school district almost made it sound as if there isn't a problem.  Or at least not dyslexia.  I told her that on a standardized test I gave her (state will require it next year, so we just wanted to see how she'd do this year and give her some exposure before it is required) DD scored in the 2nd percentile for reading and she seemed to think that was no big deal.  I think it just points to the obvious . . . she struggles with reading.  My almost 4th grader only reads Sally, Dick and Jane.  She can normally get through Pathway's First Steps and Days Go By.

pslively, I love the sound of your schedule. Would yu by chance be willing to share a sample? We are doing this next year with 5th and 8th grader. I have been trying to plan it out and it is taking alot. Your way seems so simple. How did you decide which recommended resources to buy or use?

All my children really enjoy The Boy of the Pyramid (I have olders too). If you can afford that one, I'd highly recommend it.

Reconsidering what is education like you said is a good idea. In TN, I have to do 180 days 4 hours per day even for elementary. I use an umbrella school and they suggest that activities such as chores, cooking with you, helping Daddy work on the car, etc. easily fill up and exceed the 4 hours requirement. Life is education after all.

One thing to keep in mind (if she has dyslexia - I assume Dynaread says she does) - there is not a single solitairy reading program out there that works for every dyslexic person.  

Does she enjoy her other schoolwork?  Delta is also struggling with math (facts, not necessarily concepts) but is enjoying it ok.  But he LOVES history, and is ok with other subjects like Science.  We use a LOT of audiobooks!

Ah, I didn't actually use dynaread - just their test....

Hi, thank you curlywhirly.  sorry it took me so long to respond...my computer was misbehaving and I ended up doing a full recovery .  Thanks for your suggestions.  I was eyeing The Stuff They Left Behind, until you suggested the Visit to Africa.   Now that I've read the description, I agree.  Thanks!

That seems like a great suggestion for the obviously educational kinds of field trips (AND a great reminder to take such field trips!). What about those kinds of adventures like 'play in the creek for three hours'? We always find interesting animals (crawfish, mudpuppy, salamanders, etc) and I fully believe it is an important part of our spring/summers, but I've not thought of them as 'homeschooling days' if we haven't also gotten at least some other work at home done. Maybe I just ask them to make an entry into their nature journal? Or what about shows like 'Chinese acrobatics'...We discuss it but don't do anything additional. But often on those days our routine is messed up and we just don't end up doing anything else homeschool-y. Maybe I just need to figure out what I feel is enough to be considered educational even if it isn't the phonics/math/history on the schedule. Hmmm. Thanks for your suggestion!

Thank you for your responses.

Suzukimom - Thanks for the encouragement.  We did the dynaread test last year and have used dynaread all this year.  Of the 40 units that are expected to be finished in 1 - 1 1/2 years, we've done 12 of them and she still struggles to read them.  I will look into some of the others that you suggested.  I have also looked at Barton, but it is expensive!!  I would have used it over dynaread if I'd had the money.

TailorMade - I will check to see if our library has the book.  The school district recommended Overcoming Dyslexia and our library does have that, I just need to go and pick it up.   

Thanks for chiming in! That's what I was thinking about Guerber. My dd just completed MFW this year and really didn't like the Notgrass. We are planning to use EpiKardia Brit Lit. (dd is really excited about this and old enough to have a valued opinion) and the Bluestocking Press Uncle Eric books, Ancient Rome, The Thousand Year War, WWi and WWII. After studying history traditionally (living books, spines, etc) for so many years I really like the idea of the Uncle Eric books-how does history effect us today. Dive into application a bit. We want to have a little fun doing something different.

So I guess I am thinking, "Would Charlotte consider this a good, deep study of a few events/people/periods in history?" I think I would tell someone else "go ahead, sounds great!" But I am always very tough on myself to give my dd the very best excellence for her education. Not that I wouldn't want excellence for someone else! LOL

I'm remembering a book called Reading Rescue 123 from years ago. I used it with one son, but loaned it out, never to get it back. It basically established a simple, patient, daily routine that provided lots of practice. Mostly, that has been the issue at our house. With five children, three very close together at first, I found it difficult to get in enough practice time with everyone.

I'm not suggesting it as a "cure," but worth an inter-library loan if anything else. :)

Becca<><

My happy suggestion is to find ten short excursions (field trips.) These could be scheduled on your OFF weeks, but might count toward the ten days of school needed. ? If you find places or events that would tie toward history, science, art, or music, you'd be able to have them do oral/written narrations, draw, or otherwise document what they learned each of those days as proof if that is needed.

Hopeful that helps,
Becca<><

Hi Pangit.... I understand exactly how you feel!

We used this free screening test to determine that Delta likely has dyslexia, and that Echo has some warning flags and may have stealth dyslexia.

It isn't a thourough test, but still gives an idea...   You get the results in a few days...

https://www.dynaread.com/pv5-dyslexia-tests.php

We also did a different test here:

http://www.lexercise.com/dyslexia-services/screen-your-child/

I have a bunch of resources here...

http://pinterest.com/scouterguider/dyslexia-dysgraphia-dysnomia/

You are NOT failing her!

If she does have a learning disability, like dyslexia, or something else - she is going to need a LOT more review than AAS has built in.... you need to really make sure she masters those words. I use ANKI instead of the cards to make sure we are getting in enough review....  (If you want, I can send you the ANKI file I have for AAS 1 and 2, and give suggestions on how to use it.)

Is she able to read what she is spelling?  If not, then I'd stop the spelling for now.   There is a placement test for All About Reading on their site (Level 3 is due out very soon....) - have you looked at those?  I know that AAS is supposed to be designed for reading remediation as well as new learners, so I know that they try not to make it too babyish.  That said, we haven't tried it out yet.  

The main recommendations on the dyslexia homeschooling board that I'm on is Barton - but that is too expensive for me.  All About Reading is supposed to use a similar method (Orton-Gillingham) - but is new, and I don't know how similar it is.

ABeCeDarian is recommended by some... 

I've seen Reading Bears recommended on some CM sites (LD subforums) - We've done some of it and it looks like it might be helpful - it did show me that Delta can struggle with simple words even when he reads harder ones fine at times....

I've seen Reading Reflex recommended (and someone is sending me a copy.... so will know more....)

There are other things out there too.

The All About Reading / Spelling site has various resources - there is a forum, and a blog - with information about using the programs with struggling students.

Again - you are not failing her.   Try that DynaRead test (my son's doctor was glad to get the results to look at - once we have insurance again he will refer him for more testing - but he agreed that something is going on....)

Have any of you used Saxon Phonics or the Saxon Phonics Intervention?  Any thoughts on it?  Did you like or not and why?

We're trying to figure something out with DD9 who is struggling with reading.  I talked to the school district earlier today about possibly having them test her and tutor her.  I can't say I ended the conversation feeling very positive.  Mostly felt that they wouldn't do it.  We are feeling like we need someone other than me to help her with this and preferably someone who knows what they are doing.

What about All About Reading for a 4th grader?  Would it be too babyish for a 4th grader?  We have done All About Spelling Level 1 and 2.  She learnes the rules but doesn't apply them on her own.  If I stop and ask her she will tell me the rule and then I have to ask to look at her word, then she will change things.  On that note, should I even continue with All About Spelling 3 next year as planned or just forget about it until she is reading better?  We started it in hopes that since it was phonics based, it would also help with her reading.

It feels like we try something and it may work for a couple weeks and then we hit a brick wall and struggle the rest of the year.  I feel like I'm failing her and really don't know where to go from here.